In a telecommunications network having a plurality of interconnected nodes, certain portions of the network which include a number of the interconnected nodes may be defined to have the ability to restore traffic disrupted along paths formed from those nodes. Such defined concentration of nodes may be referred to as a distributed restoration network within the telecommunications network or simply a distributed restoration domain, or more specifically a dynamic transmission network restoration (DTNR) domain. The operation of such distributed restoration network depends on the distributed restoration algorithm (DRA) that is stored in the various nodes within the distributed restoration network.
As is well known, a path may be effected in the distributed restoration network by interconnecting a number of nodes therein, so that traffic may be routed along these interconnected nodes. To maintain the integrity of the path, per the above-referenced '088 application, there is disclosed the embedding of a path verification message onto the traffic signals so that each node along the path within the distributed restoration network is apprised of the integrity of the path. This path verification message could be integrated into an alarm indication signal (AIS). Thus, if at any time a break or a failure occurs along the path, an alarm signal, such as for example the AIS, would notify the nodes along the path that a failure has occurred and that the node should begin the restoration process to find alternate routes or paths to reroute the disrupted signal. A path interconnecting those nodes within the distributed restoration network may also extend into areas of the telecommunications network that are not adaptable to restore the disrupted traffic using DRA.
Given that those areas of the telecommunications network that are not DRA enabled may have equipment that could potentially be affected by the path verification messages that are embedded onto the traffic signals, a way must be found to remove the path verification messages from the traffic signals before those signals are routed from the distributed restoration network to the other areas of the telecommunications network. Moreover, since signals traversing outside of the distributed restoration network do not carry the path verification messages, path verification messages must be added to those signals that are being routed into the distributed restoration network.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a method and a system therefor of removing path verification messages from signals traversing from a distributed restoration network to areas of the telecommunications network that are not DRA enabled.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a scheme and a system therefor of adding path verification messages to signals that are being routed to a distributed restoration network so that the integrity of any path formed within the distributed restoration network to which the signals are routed can be confirmed.